Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Results
DES MOINES, Iowa (Apr. 27, 2019) - A pair of second-place finishes and a series of performances which rank among the nation's best at the NCAA Division III level highlighted a fruitful weekend for the North Central College men's track and field team at the Drake Relays, as the Cardinals took part in one of the nation's highest-profile meets for the 37th consecutive year.
North Central's 4-by-800-meter relay team of
Brendon Sebastian,
Michael Anderson,
Cameron Benes and
Chris Buechner earned runner-up honors with a finishing time of seven minutes, 43.19 seconds, getting narrowly edged out by Wartburg College on the final lap of the race. Buechner, Sebastian, Anderson and
Peyton Piron later placed second in the distance medley relay, finishing in 10:03.29.
The Cardinals opened competition at Drake Stadium on Thursday with the Distance Carnival.
Nolan McKenna, competing in the invitational section of the 5,000-meter run, turned in a four-second personal best by finishing 11th in 14:18.74, a performance which ranks him only behind teammate
Dhruvil Patel among Division III athletes this season.
Matt Norvell placed fourth in the 10,000-meter run on Thursday in a time of 30:17.26, followed by
Matt Osmulski in seventh (30:20.91) and
Thomas Rohr in 14th (31:30.40). Norvell and Osmulski both turned in season bests at the distance and currently rank 11th and 12th, respectively, among Division III competitors.
North Central's 4-by-400-meter relay quartet of Piron,
Michael Stanley,
Maceo Findlay and
Gavin Cernek turned in a season-best effort of 3:13.66 in Friday's preliminary heats, achieving the second-fastest time by any Division III team thus far this season. The Cardinals qualified for Saturday's final but elected not to compete as wintry conditions descended on the Des Moines area.
The 4-by-100-meter relay team of Stanley, Findlay,
Nate Bailey and
Avante Rivers placed 15th overall (42.67), while
Nick Janca competed in the high jump.
The Cardinals travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin on Friday and Saturday for the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Outdoor Championships at Carthage College. North Central will be seeking its second straight outdoor conference title and its 39th overall.
